What is arthritis?
Arthritis means inflammation of joints. It is a common condition, affecting over 50 million Americans. For some people, it comes as a part of getting older. But does this have to be the case?
The main symptoms of arthritis include pain, tenderness, stiffness, and inflammation in the joints. It can also cause destruction or deformity of the joints, and breakdown of the supporting ligaments. Different people will experience different symptoms. And these can vary throughout life. Some forms of arthritis such as rheumatoid, may have remote effects and other organs, including the heart and lungs.
Common forms of arthritis include:
- Osteoarthritis and degenerative arthritis occur in most people as they age. OA is a chronic condition, especially targeting weight-bearing joints (e.g. knee, hip and spine). It attacks the cartilage or coating on the ends of bones, narrowing the joint space. The result is often bone overgrowth and spurs or ridges leading to reduced function. Although not as common in young people, it may result from injury or over use.
- Rheumatoid arthritis. RA is an inflammatory disease of the joint linings; often resulting in secondary erosive and destructive changes of the joint.
- Gout causes uric acid crystals to build up like shards of glass in small joints, such as the big toe. It causes terrific pain and inflammation.
- Lupus. This is a chronic autoimmune disorder targeting connective tissue. The result is periodic intense inflammation causing joint damage and deformity. Like RA, lupus often affects other organ systems.
- Scleroderma. This autoimmune disease attacks connective tissue causing thickening and hardening of the skin, ligaments and tendons. It can be terribly painful and disabling.
- Ankylosing spondylitis. The connective tissue inflammation from a S induces bone proliferation, resulting in the vertebrae (Bones) of the spine fusing to the point of immobility. Like other forms of arthritis it has a propensity to spread to other joints including shoulders, hips, ribs, and the small joints of the hands and feet.
Are there any worthwhile nonpharmaceutical or surgical treatment options?
While there is no recognize cure for arthritis, there are multiple established treatment pathways to drastically reduce or eliminate the resultant inflammation (destructive oxidative stress).
- Anti-inflammatory nutrition: Having a healthy, balanced, and appropriate diet can help to moderate and potentially eliminate some of the symptoms commonly associated with arthritis. While a single miracle diet does not exist to combat arthritis, there are many beneficial foods to help decrease inflammation such as fish (or even a daily vitamin of fish oil), nuts such as pine nuts and pistachios, colorful fruits and veggies (blueberries, kale), beans, and whole grains. This can be classified into a Mediterranean diet. While the Mediterranean diet can be a beneficial overall diet for individuals with arthritis, there are particular foods that may help specific types of arthritis more than others. Read more about Integrative Medicine
- Anti-inflammatory supplements: turmeric (curcumin), ginger, glutathione, N-acetylcysteine, fish oil, bromelain, resveratrol, spirulina, green tea extract, Vitamins D & C have all been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory properties. Read more about Integrative Medicine
- Regenerative medicine (RM): RM therapy uses injections containing a concentration of the patient’s own platelets or stem cells to accelerate the healing of inflammmed joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. It combines your body’s natural ability to heal itself with the latest in medical and scientific technologies. Read more about Regenerative Medicine
- Focused shockwave: Uses high energy acoustic waves to to recondition and revitalize connective tissue, such as ligaments and tendons, damaged by arthritis. Read more about Focused Shockwave
- Laser therapy: is a medical treatment that uses focused light to stimulate an awe inspiring process within cells called photobiomodulation or PBM. During PBM, the light interaction triggers a biological cascade of events, leading to an increase in cellular metabolism and a decrease in both pain and inflammation. Read more about Laser therapy
Balanced Nutrition Routines for Different Types of Arthritis
- Anti-inflammatory: since the primary basis for this type of arthritis is inflammation, the Mediterranean diet will help to decrease inflammatory symptoms by providing plenty of anti-inflammatory foods.
- Osteoarthritis: having an overall healthy, balanced diet to maintain an appropriate weight is going to be most important for maintaining healthy joints without excess pressure through the joints. Diets such as the Mediterranean diet and DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) can allow for a healthy balance of foods with decreased sodium and inflammatory foods.
- Gout: Gout can often be food related such as eating too much red meat, increasing levels of uric acid building up and creating the crystals that cause joint pain. Certain foods can also help to decrease flare frequency such as tart cherries, as well as various red, blue, and purple fruits.
- Osteoporosis: Diets rich in calcium and Vitamin D to help with bone growth and support will help to diminish effects of osteoporosis. Eating foods such as yogurt, leafy greens, and almonds can help to provide calcium, while getting plenty of sunlight as well as eating salmon, egg yolks, and mushrooms can improve vitamin D levels.
While these options don’t provide a perfect cure for arthritis, they do reduce symptoms and improve periods of remission without pain — while also creating an overall healthy body. As a result you will be able to able to improve strength and functional mobility to keep you active.